Problem
CAIPE defines its charter, Steering Committee, and decision thresholds, but it does not yet define a project-wide contributor ladder, a canonical maintainer registry, a consistent inactivity and emeritus process, or a durable public decision log. Repository-local ownership can drift without these shared rules.
Proposed decision
Adopt a CAIPE contributor lifecycle with Participant, Contributor, Reviewer, Maintainer, and Emeritus roles; establish MAINTAINERS.md as the canonical project-wide registry while keeping repository-local controls authoritative for access; adopt a humane inactivity policy; and create an append-only public decision log with a standard template.
Scope and impact
The policy applies across CAIPE repositories and project roles. Adoption is documentation-only and grants or removes no repository permission by itself. Later role, scope, and access changes must follow the adopted public processes.
Alternatives considered
- Keep all role policy repository-local: rejected because it makes project-wide ownership, diversity, and lifecycle review difficult to audit.
- Copy the Kubernetes model exactly: rejected because its organization-member and Prow-specific mechanisms are too heavy for CAIPE.
- Keep decisions only in issues and meeting notes: rejected because final outcomes, votes, recusals, and superseding decisions become difficult to find over time.
Affiliations and conflicts
No policy-specific conflict is asserted. The proposal affects all listed maintainers, including the assignee. Existing affiliation disclosures remain public in the Steering Committee roster and imported maintainer registry. Reviewers and voters must disclose and recuse under DECISION-MAKING.md when applicable.
Implementation and rollback
Review the policy through a draft pull request for at least 14 calendar days. Validate Markdown and links before adoption. Because this change is documentation-only, rollback consists of reverting the policy pull request; existing repository-local permissions remain unchanged until separately updated.
Problem
CAIPE defines its charter, Steering Committee, and decision thresholds, but it does not yet define a project-wide contributor ladder, a canonical maintainer registry, a consistent inactivity and emeritus process, or a durable public decision log. Repository-local ownership can drift without these shared rules.
Proposed decision
Adopt a CAIPE contributor lifecycle with Participant, Contributor, Reviewer, Maintainer, and Emeritus roles; establish
MAINTAINERS.mdas the canonical project-wide registry while keeping repository-local controls authoritative for access; adopt a humane inactivity policy; and create an append-only public decision log with a standard template.Scope and impact
The policy applies across CAIPE repositories and project roles. Adoption is documentation-only and grants or removes no repository permission by itself. Later role, scope, and access changes must follow the adopted public processes.
Alternatives considered
Affiliations and conflicts
No policy-specific conflict is asserted. The proposal affects all listed maintainers, including the assignee. Existing affiliation disclosures remain public in the Steering Committee roster and imported maintainer registry. Reviewers and voters must disclose and recuse under
DECISION-MAKING.mdwhen applicable.Implementation and rollback
Review the policy through a draft pull request for at least 14 calendar days. Validate Markdown and links before adoption. Because this change is documentation-only, rollback consists of reverting the policy pull request; existing repository-local permissions remain unchanged until separately updated.